{"id":384178,"date":"2025-08-30T04:02:17","date_gmt":"2025-08-30T04:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/384178\/"},"modified":"2025-08-30T04:02:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-30T04:02:17","slug":"mikel-arteta-backs-eberechi-eze-to-make-impact-on-arsenal-debut-at-liverpool-arsenal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/384178\/","title":{"rendered":"Mikel Arteta backs Eberechi Eze to make impact on Arsenal debut at Liverpool | Arsenal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mikel Arteta has backed Eberechi Eze to make an impression on his debut as Arsenal prepare to face Liverpool on Sunday without several key attacking players<\/a> including Bukayo Saka. Arteta is, however, close to having a new defensive option in Piero Hincapi\u00e9 after loan terms were agreed with Bayer Leverkusen.<\/p>\n

The England forward Saka will miss the trip to Anfield after picking up a hamstring injury against Leeds last Saturday, although Arteta was hopeful the winger could be back after the international break. The Arsenal manager also confirmed Kai Havertz had undergone surgery on a knee problem<\/a> that will keep him out for several weeks. Martin \u00d8degaard and Leandro Trossard are major doubts for the game against the champions.<\/p>\n

\u00d8degaard was named in Norway\u2019s squad for their World Cup qualifiers but has not trained since sustaining a shoulder injury in the 5-0 win over Leeds<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Arteta said there was a chance his captain could play against Liverpool but believes Eze, who scored winners for Crystal Palace at Anfield in April 2024 and in May\u2019s FA Cup final against Manchester City, is eager to make an impact after his arrival for a fee worth up to \u00a367.5m<\/a> last weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s the type of player that loves those scenarios and those moments,\u201d the manager said. \u201cI think the moment he starts to play, we will see how the team will react and what connections will flourish from his interventions. I\u2019m very confident that he\u2019s played in the league for so many years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to put him in the positions and scenarios where he can deliver those moments which are the reason why we brought him here: to give us something different, something unexpected, and we will adapt to more what is necessary as we know the outcome of that is really big.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arsenal agreed a deal with Bayer Leverkusen to sign Hincapi\u00e9 on an initial loan, with an option to make the Ecuador defender\u2019s move permanent next summer for \u20ac52m (\u00a345m).<\/p>\n

Hincapi\u00e9, who is understood to have already agreed personal terms for his move to north London, is expected to complete his medical over the weekend before becoming Arsenal\u2019s eighth signing of the summer. His impending arrival is likely to lead to the departure of Jakub Kiwior to Porto in a loan deal that includes an obligation for the Poland defender to make the move permanently next summer for up to \u20ac27m, with interest also building in Oleksandr Zinchenko<\/p>\n

Piero Hincapi\u00e9 is close to offering Mikel Arteta another versatile defensive option. Photograph: J\u00fcrgen Fromme\/firo sportphoto\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Arteta\u2019s side have already spent more than \u00a3250m on new players in this transfer window and Arsenal had been looking to structure their move for Hincapi\u00e9 as an initial loan so they do not fall foul of Uefa\u2019s regulations on financial fair play. They are believed to have discussed the deal with Leverkusen officials on Friday and reached an agreement over the 23-year-old, who had a release clause of \u20ac60m but expressed his wish to leave. Hincapi\u00e9, who can play as a left-sided centre\u2011back or left-back, joined the Bundesliga club from the Argentinian side Talleres in 2021 and has 46 caps for his country.<\/p>\n

Kiwior had interest from Crystal Palace but preferred to join Porto, who have agreed to pay around \u00a32m to take the 25-year-old on loan for the season before he completes his permanent move. Arsenal did not want to sanction his departure until they had secured a replacement and are now stepping up their efforts to offload other fringe players before Monday\u2019s transfer deadline.<\/p>\n

Marseille have enquired about signing Zinchenko, although the Ukrainian\u2019s wages could be a stumbling block. Fulham and Palace have both been in talks over Reiss Nelson, while Stuttgart are expected to step up their efforts to sign the Portugal midfielder F\u00e1bio Vieira before the end of the window.<\/p>\n

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Ben White and Christian N\u00f8rgaard are also struggling to be available for the Liverpool game as Arsenal\u2019s injury concerns have continued from last season, when they were without Saka, \u00d8degaard and Havertz for lengthy spells.<\/p>\n

Arteta revealed that Arsenal had been looking into why they have been dealing with so many absences and said they were \u201ccontinually monitoring and evolving the needs of the players and the schedule\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said Saka\u2019s repeated problems were a big concern. The forward was out for more than three months after surgery on his right hamstring in December and has picked up the latest injury in his other leg.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe does not need surgery,\u201d said Arteta. \u201cIt\u2019s not as bad as the previous one. He felt something, so he will be out for a couple of weeks. But it is obviously a concern, a big one, especially when we talk about a sprinter and a player that gets into that zone very often in a football match, who needs that burst, that change of rhythm of pace to be as threatening as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we will learn again as to why it happened and make him stronger. Unfortunately injuries are part of a career. He hasn\u2019t had that many, to be fair, with the amount of games that he has played at his age but it is something that we want to eradicate.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mikel Arteta has backed Eberechi Eze to make an impression on his debut as Arsenal prepare to face…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":384179,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[13,12,14],"class_list":{"0":"post-384178","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-stories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115115730013071368","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/384179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}